Saturday, June 13, 2009

Live Blogging The Nationwide Series From Kentucky

Jerry Punch is winding-down his Nationwide Series activities for this season. The Saturday night race in Kentucky signals the point where only a handful of events remain on his schedule.

This is a big change from the previous years where Punch did double-duty once ESPN took over the Sprint Cup telecasts in late July. It will be Marty Reid stepping-in on July 25th to handle the rest of the Nationwide Series telecasts. Punch will concentrate solely on the Cup races.

On this day, the Nationwide Series has another opportunity to put on a good show without big brother overshadowing it. Although several Cup drivers flew from Michigan to Kentucky to race, there are some hungry Nationwide drivers looking for exposure on national TV and possibly a win.

Allen Bestwick and Brad Daugherty are working on the pre-race show with Rusty Wallace this week, who will then head upstairs to call the race. Wallace will join Punch and Andy Petree in the booth.

This race is going to be a very good test of just how ready Punch is to lead ESPN into the Sprint Cup Series. It is a stand-alone event in primetime without any other distractions. Punch, Wallace and Petree are "the show."

Shannon Spake is also off, so Jamie Little, Dave Burns and Vince Welch will handle pit road. This may be a busy place for several reasons. After the race begins, the start and park cars will be leaving the track and the real action and strategy will begin. It should be interesting to see if and how ESPN acknowledges the "valet parkers."

ESPN still has the best triple-split in the business for caution flag pit stops. Pictures and sound are normally outstanding and this event should be no exception. The cars under the lights at this facility really put on a show.

The criticism of ESPN is that sometimes there is a script. Tonight should be a bit of a clash as the network promoted a possible Nationwide regular as a winner, but now faces the possibility of another dominant performance by Kyle Busch.

Either way, here we go. This post will serve to host your comments on the ESPN coverage of the Nationwide Series race from Kentucky. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.

382 comments:

JDHow many people who suffer from Kyle Busch Derangement syndrome are going to suffer an aneurysm in the next 90 minutes? I mean,really, this is too much. Two races inside a couple of hours? How much can a person take?

During qualifying, they said Jeff Green wasn't eligible for the champion's provisional because he wasn't the original driver assigned to car #91 at the time of entry deadline (approx. 13 days before the race).

This could be the case, but even if he had been originally assigned to that car, he used a provisional at Talladega and, as per the rule in the Nationwide Series, he's not eligible for the provisional until Loudon in 2 weeks.

Im going to give Brendan the benefit of the doubt here. I've listened to him on SIRIUS and other shows, and he is hardcore on that Georgetown thing. I don't take what he said as being racial but that is just my two cents on it. I do think more was made out of this then what it probably was and Rusty has a point about getting suspended for hearsay if that was indeed the case but it is what it is for the time being.

If the 79 IS the 31, they will run the full race. That was the plan from the start I imagine. They have struggled to make races this year but when they have, they have tried their best to run the full deal. The car is fully sponsored so I think they'll have to give it a go for those guys. Did not hear that about Brian since I was racing online today during qualifying so that makes sense they would S&P or at least get to the first stop.

Dot...sponsors. Double edged sward, you want to sponsor a good car and a good team, but that owner and sponsor can't wait for a driver to develop if Cup guys are going to run every week so sponsors go the safe route and support Cup drivers since its a no brainer they will get discussed, get tv time, and run up front. I am VERY thankful to the folks at Northern Tool though for being Erik's sponsor while Discount has continued support of Ragan. Really hope that turns into a full time deal for Erik next season, and I pray RCR can put something together for Steven as well as Austin.

I like the standalones because you can see these guys, but I dont support an all out ban on Cup guys because what no one realizes is ticket sales will plummet when that happens, sponsors will get scared and some will back out, and purses will drop...thus why I support the 2005 version of the Kevin Harvick Plan To Fix the Busch Series: More standalone dates, 3 or 4 more would be enough that Cup guys wouldn't race for the championship, yet would run enough races to keep some butts in the stands and sponsors in the series while allowing the full time teams to reap the rewards of the championship fund.

@Dot--the fact that they're Cup drivers is all they need. Outside of team cars, there are other teams who will bring in a Cup driver because that's what the sponsors want. When Terry Bradshaw was still an owner with Armando Fitz, gosh about 4 years or so ago, he was being interviewed on Fox before one of the races about Buschwacking. Terry said he *hated* the Buschwackers (and before anyone could say "But what about Sterling?") he said that he had a Cup driver in the car because that's what the sponsors wanted. Sterling didn't take a dime for his Busch efforts so all the money won went back to the team.

Then you run into something I don't agree with which is giving a guy a championship who honestly didnt rack up the most points. The guy that really has the 4th best season "wins" the championship by default...

Jo, you know ESPN would do a "what if" version of points and if it showed 3 cup guys top 3 in points and your "Nationwide Champ" 4th...what would people say then?

Now the Cup guys to run, boosted YOUR purse in the series, YOUR championship purse, and made the series richer by being there, arent entitled to what they earned on the track? Legal battle waiting to happen.

Big reason why they went away from that idea because mid way through last year they had floated an idea to Cup drivers that if you were in the top 35 in Cup points you wouldnt be eligible for any NW points.

I totally get what your saying and Im for seeing it, but its on NASCAR to change the schedule rather than boot Cup guys from the series or tell them they will race for free.

They can let the Cup guys race, but they don't get points and can't win the championship. The race promoters want the Cup guys because they put behinds in the seats. But I'm getting tired of Shrub winning all the time. It's not fair to the little guys.

And don't get me started on the media hyped 200 wins business. No way should they count all the races Shrub wins towards total Nascar wins. Talk to me when Shrub gets 200 Cup wins, not 200 wins total when 60% of those wins come in truck and Nationwide.

49 and 0 are usually S&P, but they're still out there. 0 has a sponsor this week and 49 has a new driver. They must be trying harder tonight because of that.

I was surprised to see the 10 with Chad Blount. Marc Davis and his sponsors were supposed to be in the 10 tonight. Blount hasn't started a race since 2005 and the 10 usually parks when the hood and rear fenders are blank.

I don't know what the 26's lease agreement was on that car, but I doubt they could afford to replace it if they wrecked it. And as loose as he was, it's probably a good thing that he parked. He was a wreck waiting to happen.

Braun will have a locked in car since they have to attempt every race to keep their qualifying exemption. since the car runs so well when reutimann and other guys in the car, they can afford to show up, park the car and go home without falling outside the top 30 in owners points. also he can allow another team to supply the car, crew, and driver but just slap a #10 on it like they did with marc davis, call himself the owner when in reality none of the equipment is his, and score points for the #10 which benefits him.

My guess is when Davis pulled out, they got whoever to put in the car. The interesting thing was a few hours before practice, Marc Davis tweeted that he was getting ready for Kentucky. Then at practice, he's not there.

Start & Park...Rusty Van Gundy not talking about his brother Kenny with any love....a sex enhancing ad run two times under the first two cautions...& Bruton working the program! Welcome to the Nationwide Series...Cup Race? wow lobby time....

@ Gymmie & darbar - Back when (Elvis was really alive) - the Busch series ran Myrtle Beach raceway - we used to time our vacation for the races. It was a great small venue to meet & see the up & coming drivers - NASCAR really needs to admit the mistake & take the trucks & N'wide back to its roots. And leave some of the companion races as bad memories

hi gang! late to the party -- just in time for bruton smith. did they actually say 70,000 at the track tonight?hey darbar? congrats on your penguins! way to close out the season. here's hoping you somehow get a chance to see lord stanley's cup with all those penguins names on it!

Jojaye, I totally agree with you. What do these Cup guys get out of racing every race in Nationwide and truck? I know for Shrub it's just to tweak his ego, but for others? If the Cup guys would step aside, and the sponsors would stay around, they could really use the Nationwide as a training ground for newbies-----like Danica? Did you hear on Sirius that Danica is talking with Ganassi.

Does anyone think any of these guys would ever begin a discussion on the fact that one or both of the supporting series might shut down? I mean, who wants to watch races where 40% or more of the cars are out before the first 50 laps?

dar...when you think about it its the ONLY move that makes sense for her and the owner alike. Owner has car that needs driver and sponsor, driver wants more exposure. No other owner has an open car that would be willing to take that risk.

@Robyn - If Davis pulled out of the deal at the last minute, that is very likely Lamar's back-up. When Braun brings a blank car to park, it's usually the burgundy Beringer car that Reutimann drove at California and Texas. Kelly Bires drove (and parked) that car twice.

ok, so that was interesting: can someone explain why the cowl flap on the right side just came up on the 88 car? i thought those only lifted when there was serious aero inequality across the hood (as in a wreck situation.) were we just seeing the result of the infamous "air being taken off the nose" moment right there? i don't recall seeing that before.

Just got home from a late dinner and we are watching the NW start and it looks like pretty good crowds in the stands. We watched the 24 Hours of Lemans at the restaurant and that race is only half over now and very good coverage from Speed!

Red Letterbox that's it I knew that screen size looked familar. The triple pits take up the same amount of space as my 19inch in the bedroom, lose the dead space on the side and use the entire screen already.

Re: Danica and Ganassi she may be insurance. Because if Scott Dixon goes to the team that Gil de Ferran is reportedly starting he could be left without a second marquee driver. Dixon drove the de Ferran Acura here at Sebring.They are good friends, that is the impression I got when I spoke with him during the open test. He was in hotel lounge and we talked racing and airplanes for about an hour.

@dot and darbar: in fact, mrs earnhardt did, in fact, refuse permission for the use of her husband's image in that ad. that's what so sad.

Vicky D said..."That's why I don't have an issue with Harvick racing in the NW series - he races his own team with regular NW pit crew."so maybe that's a first step in reducing the number of cup drivers in n'wide. require the team to follow the harvick example: race with a separate n'wide team and pit crew. and i'd toss in: and only use a n'wide driver, not one of your cup buddies.

Hi all.Been pulling my hair out for over 2 hours making music copies and trying to make an updated Demo CD for a band. Even tho my new laptop is xP it screws me out of free things one used to be able to do for free, so on old laptop with broken hinge, duct tape and a C Clamp to hold things together. Just like NASCAR car.

Anyway, sorry I missed all the info and whatever Brad said about the comments fromm last week. and the Anthem and the race...but darned distracted.

cars look good at Sparta I even missed Bruton? Wow, I had the tv muted much of the time to save my brain confusion.

Just catching up on the race...while reading through the comments I still think the best way to reduce the number of Cup guys in the NW races while strengthening the truck series is to run the NW and trucks together at different tracks than the cup guys. The cup guys can stand alone. I still like to see a few cup guys in the field, but don't want to see them win the championships. There could be rules made as far as number of total races you could run in the top 3 series combined that would eliminate cup guys going for championships in the other series'.

@ Darbar...as someone who is from Michigan and a life long Detroit sports fan, I am still in shock that Pittsburg was able to take 4 out of 5 from Detroit after being down 2-0.

jd, we can only hope. as i've said before, i think jerry punch deserves the first spot in the nascar hall of fame, broadcasters wing. i hate it that his latest assignment detracts from that. and marty would be interesting. i like his style and enjoy hearing him.we shall see.

@Anon 10:03 - Then, the S&P would run 33% +1 lap and then park it. The ones suffering from this "no payout" rule would be the ones with legitimate issues like an early accident or a blown engine.

In Cup, the S&P typically run 40 to 60 laps, but in Nationwide a bunch of them only run about 5 or 10. It would cost them a little more to run 60 instead of 10, but they would do it just to pick up the paycheck.

wait, what?! shane huffman is a crew chief now? seriously? shane huffman? what the heck are HIS credentials for being a crew chief? he was an ok driver but . . . really? guess there's no bench strength at rusty's shop.

Red, Kentucky Speedway easily gets 65-70K in attendance. I've been to 2 Nationwide(Busch) races there and it is the largest stand alone Nationwide race on the schedule. great facility that could expand to over 100K in 6 mos if they get a race. So I'm sure Bruton was right on the money regarding the attendance.

@NRF - Remember Gary Bechtel from the old #29 Diamond Ridge Motorsports? He's a co-owner of Tommy Baldwin's Cup team and he's the one financing Bayne's efforts in Nationwide Series. I thought I had heard Bayne was a DEI development driver, but Bechtel must have brought in quite a bit of money to take over his development.

nrf: i sorta lost track of huffman when he was fired from jrm a while back. i guess i assumed he was still racing somewhere. never read/heard that he's landed with rusty. sure caught me by surprise, i'll tell you what!

Does anyone in the powers-that-be category see that if the Shrubster weren't in every race, that there is some amazing racing going on? If he weren't around, the Nationwide races could be really fantastic to watch.

MV is right. Botchel is funding the #99 team. Basically he is paying MWR to field the car. Trevor is no longer associated with DEI's developmental process and is NOT an MWR developmental driver. MW has the seat, the car was open, so they paid MWR to field the car.

Much like when Todd Braun allowed the Davis team to use the #10's owners points last week is what is going on with the #99. Only in this case the whole team is on lease for Bayne

OK, that comment by Punch about how a car can go bad so quickly, was it just a way to get Rusty to talk about Carl's car, or is he really that dumb and doesn't realize that a car's handling can go away in a second?

Haus, as a lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan, I was thrilled, and surprised, beyond belief. I never thought the Wings superior defense would not be able to stop a Crosby-less Pens team.

@Haus14 - Aaron's alternates between the 23 of Butler and the 99 of Waltrip, never both at the same time. I think Aaron's has only sponsored Waltrip when he's in the 99, any other driver just fills the schedule for Michael. I'm not sure how many races Scott Speed is doing with Red Bull, other than that Patrick Carpentier is signed for Montreal with NAPAm, since they sponsor the race too.

Any other standalone events might be run with Bayne and he has no sponsorship.